Locking device for automobiles



G. W. WRIGHT AND T. J. PENSHJN. LOCKING DEVICE FOR AUTOMOBILES. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 13, 192 1,42%);181 1 e ep 12,1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

nor/v5.95.- I Gm e Wyn-7 e. w. WRIGHTAN-D T. 1. PENSION.

LOCKING DEVlCE FOR AUTOMOBILES.

v AFPLICATIQN FILED DEC. 13, 1921- 1,429,181 PatentedSept. 12,1922.

' fanduseful Improvement in" Looking vice's for Automobiles, of which the follow Patented Sept. 12, 1922'.

UIED ISTATE-S ,181 PATET oric I GEORGE W.'WRIGHTA1\TD THOMAS J. PE1\TSION, 0F rmLAnnmnm; PENNSY VANIA,

ASSIGNORS or 'THREE-EIGHTHSMTO, SAID WRIGHT, THREE-EI HTHs TO SAID THOMAS J. PENSION, AND ONE-FOURT PHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. q

H. T0 THOMAS. M. PENSION, OF PHILAD'EL 1 LooKING n-nvion Eon .lewememmsf f A n aaen mea liecember 13,1921." Serial N6." 521,967. h 1 1 I Z 0. all whom it may concern; a I

, 'Be it known that we, G ORGE W. WRIGHT and THOMAS J 'PENsIoN, citizens of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia-and State of Pennsylvania, have jointly invented a new Y'ingis, a specification, 7

The invention relates to lockin devicesfor' automobiles which operate h connecting [and disconn'ectingthe crank shaft and one or more ofthe engine control shafts, such asjthef c'am shaft, and by locking suchshaft or shafts in disconnected relation' 'thereby making the engine inoperative; and preventing unauthorized use or theftof the ear or vehicle while leaving it free to be towed or pushed about agara-ge or :in ca'seof'fire. i

The principal objects of the present in "vention are, first, to provide forthe application of mechanismembo'dying features of theinvention toexistingfcars without substantial alteration and vvith" a minimum of cost and. expense ;,second, to provide simple, v compact, safe. andefficient mechanism for j connecting and disconnecting the shafts and gears. and for: securely lockingthesame in disconnected relation; third, to provide for operating the [connectin and disconnecting and locking mechanism rom the, seat or passengerv space of the car; and fourth, to pro- ,videasatisfactory, simple, reliable and eas- 85 'il'y made and installed and operated mecha- .nisin'of the type referred to. i

. lThe inventio n will beclaimedat the end.

v hereofbut, generallystated,it comprises the ,combina-tion of theenginecontrol andlcrank [shifting lever plate disposed transversely shafts, a gear case enclosing the. same, a key :of the auton'aobile ,and:supported by said shafts, and arrangedfinthe case, a rod ranginglengthvvise' of the automobile/for operating said lever plate, a mastergear loosely ,n1 ounted on,one ofv said. shafts, a spring )pr s d k 'y operated by said leverplatefor ,1 I A v l V 7 plate 7 :for connecti and-'dlsconnectin'gjthe ao iirigihezinsl, The invention further comprises f theimprovements to be presently described aridfihally-laimedlj t e inv nt onimprovements in in Figure-1. e I I detached Yl6W Sl1OW1I1g the operating rod mechanismof which a 'part' s fication, and

Tle f llen a e i flreiee aw trating features ofithe-invention and form ing part hereof andin which igure 1 is a front view vvith the gear case cover 'emoved showing the shafts .in (section indicating the gears b'y dotted lines and-illustrating mechanism l Qodying features .of

line Qj of'Fi "ure 1, with parts'omitted for j thesake of c earness.

' f Fig. 2 isfa section, taken generally .on the shown in F igure 1 and front view of the' keymechanism shown shown; in Fig, 2, g Fig, 10 is a front illustratinga modi- 4 Fig. 11 ,is a side v1evv,'pa t1y in sectio illustrating a detail oftheoperating rneans shovvn in Fig, 10L

I V th] drawings the engine control and crank shaftsarelmarked as follows: 1 is the ,crank, shaft, ,2 is the camshaft, 3 is'ithe ig- 'nitio n shaft,.and 4; is 'an' idler shaft} 5 isa gear caseand it is a usual provision of an automobileexcept that in theYpresent 1n- I stance it is somewhat 'enlarged by the inser- I y tion of, a liner or frame 6. '7 is a keyshift-" 1 ing lever plate vdisposed transvers'elyo'f. the V automobile: andsupported bythe sh'afts'and arranged in; the case. As shown in Figs. fli l this lever plate issupporte'd by va yoke :lapplied to, andcarriedby shafts 2 and 9' is a'rod ranging lengthwlseof the automobileqfor operating the l'everplate 7.,One

of the gears is loosely mounted'hn one of the lshaftsgand it maybe referred to asya master gm; As shown in Figs. 1 8, the master" 3 gear 110 is loosely mounted for rotation on the crank Shaft 11 is akey springpressed hivl a pr ng Ha d op r by th lever .is guided by a similarpinandprojection 15.

and. :Pmi'e t m mm d j gear-' lO vvithQand from the-shaft l o'n which v by a fork 17, and the projection 15 is accommodated by a slot 18. The lever 7 is fitted with a gimbal ring 19 and as shown in Fig; l the lefthand end of the lever is movable inthe direction of toward and away from the paper, The key 11 is arranged for endwise movement on the shaft but it turns with the shaft being secured thereto by a spline 20, and in the embodiment under consideration the spline 20 may occupy a prolongation of the keyway which is usually provided in the shaft 1 and used for keying the gear 10 to the shaft but, as has been said, the gear 10 is not keyed to the shaft but is released therefrom and is provided in its hub portion with a cavity for the reception of the key 11, the end of which may be beveled as at 21 to facilitate the entry of the key into the cavity. The gimbal ring 19' is arranged between the face of the gear 10 and the collar 22 on the key. The spring 12 also operates onthe collar 22. Evidently when the lever plate is moved out of the plane of thepaper the key 1 1 is withdrawn from the gear 10 so that the latter is loose on the shaft 1 and in that position of the parts the engine is inoperative. Movement of the lever plate 7' in the other direction locks the key 11 to the wheel 10, and the key being compelled torotate with the shaft 1 by the spline 20, the wheel 10 and shaft 1 turn together and the engine is operative. Endwise movement of the rod 9 shifts the lever plate 7, and when shifted to withdraw the key, the latch 23 pivoted to the shaft 4, Fig. 1, falls down behind the plate and so keeps the plate in forward position with the engine out of commission and the latch keeps the plate inthat position so that it cannot be pulled back by therod 9 or in any available way. To get the plate back, the finger 24 onthe end of 'therod 9 is turned by turning the rod 9, and the finger 24L lifts up the latch23 and so permits the plate? toberetracted by the rod. The

rod.9 is locked against turning movement by I the bolt 25 of the lock 26 on therod 9, which lock is shown as a combination lock arranged in a suitable housing 27 and operated b'y a sleeve 28 that extends to some convenient point,for example, through the dash board ing out the key 11 and letting the latch 23 fallintoposition for locking the partsin the described positions. The bolt of the lock .26 normally engages the housing 2 7 so that while the rod 9 may moveback and forth it cannot be turned.

Those skilled in the art will understand that since all the parts are enclosed in the gear case or other housing and since the variouspartsof the carprevent access to the gear case that the locking mechanism described is well protected against unauthorized tampering with. In fact the car would have to be taken apart to release the mechanism if it were not for the ability to unfasten the lock 26 and in that way permit the rod 9 to be turned so that the latch 23 can be lifted and the spring 12 permitted to return the parts to the position in which the engine is operative.

The construction and mode of operation of the modification shown in Figs. 10 and 11 are substantially as has been described exceptthat the lever plate 7 while supported on the shafts a and 1, has acombined sliding and turning movement which causes the cam face 31 to operate on the collar 22 of the key and so disconnect the gear 32 and perdescribed, that is, by a look like the lock 26 but having its bolt arranged to project into a keeper in which the bolt is not sidewise movable as" is-the case in Fig. 2.

Evidently mechanism embodying the invention is very compact and can be accommodated in the space at the front .of the gear case by the slight elongation ofthat case by means of the part 6', and the mechanism is applied to the car without disturbing or very slightly disturbing or altering any of its parts and by reason of itsconstruction and location the mechanism is protected against tampering withand yet is easily operated from the drivers seat.

Obviously modifications may be made in details of construction and arrangement without departing from the spirit of the 105 invention which is not limited as to those matters Or otherWi'se thanas theprior art and the appended claims may require.

We claim; 1. In a locking device for automobiles 110 the combination of engine eontrolshafts, a gear case enclosing the same, a key shifting leverplate disposed transversely of the auto mobile and supported by said shafts and arv ranged in the case, a rod rangin lengthwise 29 and isthere provided with an index and dial 30.

of the automobile for operating said lever plate, a master gear loosely mounted on one of said shafts, a spring pressedkey operated by the lever plate for connecting and disconnecting'the gear and the shaft on which it is mounted, and a lock for said rod,- substantially as described.

. 2. In a locking device for automobiles the combination of engine contr l shafts, a yoke adapted for application to the shafts, akey shifting; lever plate pivoted to the yoke, a gravity latch pivotal in respect to the yoke and adapted to fall past said lever,

a rod for actuating the lever plate and pro- :vided with a finger for lifting the latch, a 1st master gear loosely mounted on one of the shafts, a spring pressed key operated by the lever plate, and means for locking the rod against rotation.

In a locking device for automobiles the combination of engine controlshafts, a yoke adapted for application to the shafts,

' a key shifting lever plate pivoted to the yoke,

and key, and means for locking the rod against rotation. v

4. In a locking device for automobiles the combination of engine control shafts, a

yoke adapted for application to the shafts, a key shifting lever plate pivoted to the yoke, a gravity latch pivotal in respect to the yoke and adapted to fall past. said lever, :a rod for actuating the lever plate and provided with a finger for lifting the latch, a master gear loosely mounted on one of the shafts, a-

spring pressed key operated by the lever plate, and means for locking the rod against rotation comprisinga lock and its comple mentalsleeve operatable from the interior 30 of the car.

GEORGE W. WRIGHT.

' I THOMAS, J. PENSION.- 

